Spring has Sprung and folks are getting their hands on the latest Birkenstock styles. Buyers are beginning to notice that the newest Birkenstocks no longer have that familiar yellow Birkenstock imprint on the footbed. In fact, many readers are asking if the Birkenstocks that they have received are fake because their shoes have a footbed with a black imprint.

Birkenstock recently changed the color of the imprint, from yellow to black, on their original footbed shoes. The imprint of the soft footbed Birkenstocks remain blue. From what I gathered on my tour at Birkenstock USA, the color change on the original footbed is simply cosmetic. The black is more complimentary to the various colors of the Birkenstock uppers compared to yellow.

Even though the new footbeds have the black impressions, you might still receive new Birkenstocks with the old yellow logo. What is even more confusing is that online pictures might show a shoe with one type of footbed, but you might receive the same shoe with a different colored logo. This happened to me when I ordered a pair of red Mayaris from Birkenstock USA. Their webpage advertised the red Mayari with the yellow logo on the footbed. However, I received the red Mayari with the new black logo.

This is the picture of the Mayari online at Birkenstock USA

Image from Birkenstock USA's webpage has yellow logo

This is the shoe that was shipped out to me:

Birkenstock that I received has a black logo

Let me provide you with another example. I recently purchased two new pairs of Birkenstocks. I ordered a pair of black snake skin Mayaris directly from Birkenstock USA and ordered another pair of black leather Gizehs from Zappos.

The Mayaris arrived with the black imprint on the footbed:

Birkenstock Mayari Black Snake Skin with Black Logo on Footbed

The Gizehs arrived with the yellow imprint on the footbed:

Birkenstock Black Leather Gizeh with Yellow Logo on Footbed

Both pairs of shoes are brand spanking new, the biggest difference is the color of the logo. If you take a closer look, you might also notice that the size and the footprint have switched positions. A third noticeable difference is that icon on the older footbed read “Brand Sole Leder”, whereas the new footbed has a logo without words.

Differences between the yellow and black logos on the footbeds

As long as you bought your shoes through an authorized Birkenstock retailer, you should be getting the real deal. If you have other questions about "How To Spot Fake Birkenstocks", please refer to my previous blog post from May 23, 2016.